1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates generally to providing stable support for a person's torso while simultaneously allowing a full range of motion for a person's limbs; the present invention relates particularly to providing stable support for a cyclist's body while simultaneously accommodating the full range of a cyclist's body movements, and accomplishing improvements in both comfort and mechanical efficiency for a cyclist.
2. Description of Information Known
Bicycles popularly appeared as a form of self-propelled vehicle during the early nineteenth century. These early vehicles were characterized by two wheels aligned in the direction of travel of the vehicle. From the generative forms of the ′hobby horse′, up to the present day, bicycle seats have predominantly taken the form of a device oriented on the longitudinal axis of the cycling vehicle. These prior forms of seating were intended to be straddled by the user, with the weight of the user's body being borne between the user's legs, on the underside of the body's pelvis.
The most common form of contemporary bicycle seats are fundamentally similar to the forms of seats used during the Nineteenth Century. The most prevalent form of contemporary bicycle seat is a saddle form of seat. The contemporary saddle forms of bicycle seats share a common generic art. The contemporary saddle form of a bicycle seat is typically oriented with the long dimension of the seat aligned on the longitudinal axis of the frame of the cycling vehicle. The saddle seat is then straddled by the cyclist in the process of riding a bicycle.
The configuration of a saddle form of seat derives from the shape of the space between the cyclist's legs, which shape is formed when a cyclist is pedalling a bicycle while in a seated posture. In the common saddle form of a seat the user's body weight is, in greater or lesser amounts, supported on the horn of the saddle seat, which horn projects toward the front end of the bicycle. The user's body weight is then concentrated on the underside of the pelvis between the user's legs. Being located between the cyclist's legs, the saddle form of seat provides both a centered line of balance for the cyclist, and a supporting surface for the body weight of the cyclist. The configuration and location of a saddle seat form are consistent with most user requirements presented in the function of both historical and contemporary bicycles.
The standards for the contemporary bicycle seat form have been established according to a number of user's needs, including those needs listed here following.    1. Cyclists have a need for a seat to minimize the amount of contact between the seat and the back of a cyclist's upper leg muscles, which muscles are repeatedly contracted by a cyclist in the process of pedalling a bicycle while in a seated posture.    2. Cyclists have a need for a seat which allows a cyclist to have unrestricted leg motion in the leg movements employed in pedalling a cycling vehicle.    3. Cyclists have a need for a seat which allows a cyclist the freedom of body movement to rise from, and descend onto, a cycling seat without impediment.    4. Cyclists have a need for a seat which allows positioning of a cyclist's body such that the cyclist can achieve the maximally efficient transfer of force from the legs of the cyclist to the pedals of the bicycle.    5. Cyclists have a need for a seat which allows a cyclist to descend from the seat to a standing position on the ground, while remaining in a ready-position to remount the bicycle and resume movement on the bicycle.    6. Cyclists have a need for a seat to give supplemental support to a cyclist's lateral balance while the cyclist is using a cycling vehicle in motion.There can be additional related needs for a cyclist which needs can indicate additional standards for both function and comfort in determining an improved form of seating support for cycling vehicles.
For more than a century the predominant saddle form of cycling seats has been accepted as sufficiently fulfilling the majority of seating needs for cyclists. There exist particular difficulties in existing seat forms that have not been remedied by the existing art. One difficulty of the existing art is the discomfort for the user of a typical saddle type of seat, that results from the pressure that concentrates in the area of the pubic symphysis, between the user's legs. A second difficulty of saddle-type seats is that of remaining seated while inclining the body to a posture sufficiently forward on the seat that the cyclist's legs can more effectively apply increased force to the pedals of a bicycle. A third difficulty of saddle-type seats is that saddle seats provide no stabilizing contact with the body of a cyclist when a cyclist is pedalling a cycling vehicle in an erect posture. Attempts at resurfacing and configurationally modifying the saddle form of seats have achieved varying degrees of success in relieving discomfort caused to cyclists by the saddle form of seat.
Because bicycles have most commonly served as recreational vehicles, a lesser level of seating support has generally been accepted as adequate for the purposes of cycling vehicles. Attempts have increasingly been made to promote cycling vehicles to serve the purpose of personal transportation. Efforts to apply cycling to the purpose of personal transportation have raised awareness of the need for improvements in the function and comfort of cycle seating. It is in the understanding of new and higher standards for the function and comfort of cycle seating that new and better improvements in cycle seating can be set forth over the existing art of the field.
Existing attempts at alternative seat forms have frequently combined improvement by one standard of seat function with a concomitant decline according to a different standard of use for cycle seating. In the prior art, there is seen neither a complete understanding of, nor a complete integration of, a system of support for the body of a cyclist. The art of the present invention meets particular standards of seating support, which standards have been previously recognized in numerous other and existing inventions. Examples of prior art inventions, which inventions address standards for body support related to the purposes of the present invention are listed here following.    1. Examples of patent content attempting a supported body posture for improving pedalling efficiency include the following:
TsugeU.S. Pat. No.: U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,948 B1,issuedOct. 14, 2003Yifrah andInt. Pub. No.: WO2004/007270 A1,publishedGolanJan. 22, 2004UrbanU.S. Pub. No.: US2004/0051274 A1,publishedMar. 18, 2004    2. Examples of patent content attempting the implementation of an anterior support for a forward-leaning posture include the following:
ReyesU.S. Pat. No.: 5,669,860,issued Sep. 23, 1997ClarkU.S. Pat. No.: 5,971,485,issued Oct. 26, 1999JudkinsU.S. Pat. No.: 6,131,935,issued Oct. 17, 2000    3. Examples of patent content attempting the inclusion of ergonomic considerations in an anterior torso support include the following:
WorkmanU.S. Pub. No.: US2002/0121755 A1,publishedet al.Sep. 05, 2002KastarlakU.S. Pub. No.: US2004/0056519 A1,publishedMar. 25, 2004KropaU.S. Pub. No.: US2004/0245836 A1,publishedDec. 09, 2004    4. An example of patent content proposing a posterior support with a raised and centered ridge with concave curved sides includes the following:            Terranova—U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,705, issued Sep. 27, 1988            5. Examples of patent content proposing the use of an angled plane of support in a posterior application include the following:
WhiteU.S. Pat. No.: U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,108 B1,issuedMar. 26, 2002SchmidtU.S. Pat. No.: U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,322 B2,issuedOct. 19, 2004
The current state of the art of cycle seating can be related to the current state of analysis of cycle seating. The discomfort associated with saddle types of bicycle seats is conventionally described as being caused by the downward force of a user's body weight on the surface of a cycle seat. As a cyclist moves further forward on a saddle type of seat, the seat provides a decreasing area of supporting surface for a cyclist. A result of a changing area of seating surface is that a cyclist's body weight is supported by varying areas of seating surface during the use of a typical saddle type of seat. There exists a more complete and precise description of the cause for a cyclist's discomfort in the use of a saddle type of seat. This description, being both more complete and more precise, leads to improvements in support for the body of a cyclist, which improvements are beyond the art of existing seat forms.
It is fundamental to the present invention to formulate a more complete and precise understanding of the seating needs that are most appropriate to the body of a cyclist. It is a purpose of the present invention to provide a seating system, which system accomplishes both a more effective and a more integrally resolved system of support for the body of a cyclist.